“Guben cloth, Guben caps, world-famous at its best.” - The history of Gubens industry is first of all a history of hat industry. The Civic Museum is stated on the historical factory site of the former Wilke hat manufactory.

Carl Gottlob Wilke started his business about 1822 with a weatherproofed felt hat made from lamb's wool. Thanks to Wilke, Guben became starting point and famous location of industrial lamb's wool hat production in Germany. The museum shows the history of Guben, its industry, the hat production and glass fiber industry.